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dani california cooks

homegrown and homemade in CA

Archives for September 2016

10 of the Easiest, Quickest (and Healthiest!) Breakfast Ideas

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There are a bajillion of lists like this one out there, and they all say “each of these breakfasts takes only 10 minutes to make in the morning!” 10 whole minutes?! Who are these people?! In the mornings, every minute is precious time you could either be a) sleeping or b) getting ready. I have my getting-ready-routine down to a science and adding 10 minutes on to it to whip up breakfast would be a major interruption. I also love breakfast and you will NEVER find me skipping my favorite meal of the day.

I don’t know who this guy is, but he gets me

Good Food Made Simple made my breakfast routine even easier for the days I chose to indulge in their tasty options. They are giving away free breakfast samples for DCC readers - just enter in the promotion below and I’ll randomly select a winner next Friday! They are also hosting a giveaway on their site for $100 to Whole Foods - you can best believe I entered.

http://

Here are my go-tos for breakfast in the mornings, and I hope they inspire you to start your day off right! I always keep the idea of even ratio of carb/healthy fat/fruit in mind for breakfast, ever since working with Nutshell Nutrition. Often the healthy fats and the carbohydrate will have protein in them as well.

  1. Oatmeal with nut butter and fruit - my tips for making super quick oatmeal are to prep the oats in your milk of choice the night before, then reheat in the microwave in the morning. I’ve noticed that you prevent the oatmeal-in-the-microwave-explosion issue if the oats have time to soak up the liquid before
  2. Toast with nut butter and fruit - my go to as a child. I keep bread in the freezer so it doesn’t go bad
  3. Soy/almond milk with rolled oats, nuts, and fruit - think of it like cereal! Hummusapien has a super delicious example of this
  4. Pre-made breakfast options, like these egg white patties from Good Food Made Simple. Reheated in the microwave, placed on a piece of toast over guacamole. I’ve also tossed their breakfast burritos in my bag to reheat at work after teaching cycle - so easy and tasty
  5. Hardboiled eggs with fruit - so you have to make the hardboiled eggs the night before to make this super quick, but make a big batch on Sunday and grab them to eat with a banana in the morning. My tip is to bring the water to a boil, add the eggs, let them boil around for a minute or two and then turn off the heat completely, cover with a lid and steam for 6-8 minutes. Then put the eggs into an icebath. Makes for the perfect, creamiest eggs that are super easy to peel!
Click here to view this promotion.

Five Things I Want to Cook This Fall

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I’m sitting here, watching the debate and sweating. Sweating because it was 90 degrees in San Francisco today and even with windows open and blinds closed it’s really hot in here. I’m personally debating whether I should sleep in my refrigerator tonight. To be determined.

I’m writing this while watching the debate because I have to tune in and out. Debates remind me of The Real World when everyone just starts getting confrontational and I get nervous - I’m not a confrontational person at all. So I’m often turning Trump on mute and I tune back in when Madame Clinton just slays. You go girl. I can’t wait to canvass for you in Nevada this Saturday! But I’m really trying to force myself to listen to the whole thing.

Here are the five things that I am looking forward to cooking up this fall when the temperature drops (i.e. tomorrow).

  1. These sweet potato muffins passed along by my friend Rachel, who has understood my taste buds for 20+ years (!)
  2. This simple but flavorful-looking Thai Tofu Noodle Soup - I’ll probably add a couple of handfuls of spinach
  3. I’m all about making homemade snacks these days, so these Cinnamon Turmeric Seed Bars are next on the list. Also I could make them tonight since I wouldn’t have to turn on my oven!
  4. Busting out my slow cooker again for this Coconut Curry Cashew Kitchen
  5. I love a good beans/rice combination, and this Black Bean Cilantro Lime Rice Bowls with Plantains look SO GORGEOUS and I bet would make great (vegan) leftovers

I’ll be back later this week with a post on some fun new breakfast ideas I’ve had the opportunity to try!

Recent Fancies

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The little things have been meaning a lot to me lately, and I wanted to pop in for an edition of “Recent Fancies” where I share some products/activities/anything that have been brightening my week.

  1. Soccer - I joined a soccer team with the company I work for, kind of bregrudgingly. I had always wanted to join one of those weekday adult sports teams but since I had been traveling every week for work up until recently, that just wasn’t possible. So even though I wasn’t sure that I wanted another scheduled workout activity on top of teaching spinning, I have ABSOLUTELY LOVED being a part of a team and running around the field. It doesn’t even feel like exercise, although I always have some odd pains afterwards. Today it’s my right hip…
  2. “Adventure Bread” - I had been wanting to try this bread FOREVER which you can buy at The Mill in San Francisco. For those unfamiliar with The Mill - that’s where the crazy $4 toast craze started in SF. It’s a beautiful coffee shop and they also sell bread, and this “adventure bread” is gluten free and super dense with seeds and oats. Toasted with almond butter and a little pink himalayan sea salt…now thats a delicious quick breakfast
  3. Serial podcast - I know, I’m SO late to the game. I’ve been getting 20K+ steps these past few days because I just want to walk everywhere and listen to the next episode. It’s made me quite paranoid and I’m hooked!
  4. Secret garden at Arlequin Cafe - I must have passed this place a bajillion times since it’s a block from where I live but I didn’t know until a brunch date on Saturday that there is this adorable hidden backyard patio garden that you can eat your food at! I love finding those serene hidden gems in this city. I ordered this vegetable lavash with lentil spread - yum
  5. Our newest Core40 studio - I visited the newest Core40 studio in the Castro on Saturday, and I love it’s bright, sunny interior and the general walkability of the area around it. It’s probably the closest studio to my apartment, and while there’s no spin studio so I won’t be teaching there, I do love taking the pilates at least once a week! Anyone want to take a class with me next weekend and then go to Reveille for avocado toast…?

    Pumped to be checking out our newest studio in the heart of the Castro! @core40

    A photo posted by Dani Nemzer (@danicaliforniacooks) on

Dark Chocolate & Walnut Coconut Flour Cookies

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I’ve discovered that the combo of coconut flour and almond flour makes the perfect gluten free cookie - chewy and crispy at the same time. Dark chocolate and walnut is just the ultimate addition. cookie5 I had a lunch with a colleague on Friday and when we were sitting together at our client site later that day I thought she was munching on leftovers from our date - which seemed super odd because she had ordered a smoke trout toast - but it turns out she had purchased a dark chocolate and walnut cookie and was willing to split half with me! When I was invited to a dinner party on Saturday night, I was tasked with the dessert and I decided to recreate those cookies, but much more lightened up. I don’t think I even told the fellow dinner party attendees that these also only sweetened with dark chocolate chips and maple syrup. cookie cookie2 At the dinner party, we ate shrimp and grits, so a light-ish dessert was appreciated all around. For my first project in consulting right out of college, I traveled to New Orleans for a year. By the time my tenure on the project ended, I could barely handle any more traditional New Orleans cuisine. I was so tired of “blackened red fish” and jambalaya that I honestly don’t think I was ready to eat anything with those flavors until well…this weekend! cookie4 Coconut flour can be a tricky beast because it’s super absorbent - that took me several tries and stop by at my good friend Google to spell. But the combo of coconut and almond flours somehow makes the perfect chewy yet crispy cookie. Try it - I promise you’ll be surprised! cookie3 I started out this blog sharing 3 recipes a week and now I’m down to one or two a month, but I promise that all the recipes I’m taking the time to photograph and test are either things I eat all of the time or things that are really stellar! Thanks for sticking around. Dark Chocolate and Walnut Coconut Flour Cookies | danicaliforniacooks.com

Dark Chocolate & Walnut Coconut Flour Cookies
 
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These gluten free cookies are made with almond and coconut flours, and are studded with dark chocolate and walnuts. Based off a Cookie and Kate recipe!
Author:
Ingredients
  • ¾ cup almond flour
  • ¼ cup coconut flour
  • 1 egg
  • ¼ cup melted butter or coconut oil
  • Dash of salt and cinnamon
  • ¼ tsp almond extract (optional, but makes them so decadent tasting!)
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • ½ cup maple syrup
  • ½ cup dark chocolate chips
  • ½ cup chopped walnuts
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
  2. Mix dry ingredients together, and then whisk in the egg, maple syrup, and butter
  3. Fold in the dark chocolate chips and walnuts
  4. Scoop out onto a baking sheet, greased or lined with parchment paper
  5. Bake for 15 minutes
  6. Remove and let cool. Store in the fridge
If you like this, you’ll love: Apple Pie Oatmeal Cookies

cook9

Highlights from Labor Day Weekend

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Nate and I went to my parent’s home in Santa Monica for the long weekend, and it was a wonderful time! We got back super late last night and I have to say, while everyone else is putting an end to the summer, us San Franciscans know that the good weather has just begun up here. It’s gorgeous today!

  1. Brunch with one of my best friends at Gjusta <- I wish I had gone back in time and opened this restaurant myself!http://

    Heaven sent @gjustabakery

    A photo posted by Dani Nemzer (@danicaliforniacooks) on

  2. Hiking in Temescal Canyon with mom
  3. Labor Day BBQ with lots of family and family friends
  4. Sugarfish sushi <— the BEST sushi in LA
  5. Bike rides along the beach bike path
  6. Day at the beach (and an awesome beach nap)

    Photo cred: Admwslr

  7. And lots of relaxing time in the jacuzzi

Nate joined in on many of these activities but he spent most of the weekend building a fence with my dad in the backyard. We kept joking that Home Depot is his “beach” but that’s really true! He’d much prefer doing that than lounging in the sand (…this is where we differ greatly).

Hope you all had lovely LDWs as well!